retronym


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ret·ro·nym

(rĕt′rə-nĭm′)
n.
A word or phrase created because an existing term that was once used alone needs to be distinguished from a term referring to a new development, as acoustic guitar in contrast to electric guitar or analog watch in contrast to digital watch.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

retronym

(ˈrɛtrənɪm)
n
(Linguistics) a new word coined for an existing or older thing to distinguish it from something newer or more recent
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ret•ro•nym

(ˈrɛ trə nɪm)
n.
a term, such as acoustic guitar, coined in modification of the original referent that was used alone, such as guitar, to distinguish it from a later contrastive development, such as electric guitar.
[1990–95, Amer.; retro- + -nym, as in homonym]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun 1. retronym - a word introduced because an existing term has become inadequate; "Nobody ever heard of analog clocks until digital clocks became common, so `analog clock' is a retronym"
word - a unit of language that native speakers can identify; "words are the blocks from which sentences are made"; "he hardly said ten words all morning"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
rétronyme
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References in periodicals archive ?
Associated phrases have also developed including vape pen and vape shop, while the "retronym" phrase tobacco cigarette has even begun to resurface in order to draw a distinction between traditional cigarettes and electronic devices.
Vape a rising star of the Oxford Dictionaries
The retronym "acoustic music" appeared after the advent of electric instruments, such as the electric guitar,electric violin, electric organ and synthesizer.
An Evening of Acoustic Rock with Duality
When a new element comes into the language, existing nouns can be used to name it using retronyms. Fromkim and Rodman define a retronym as:
A good example of the retronym phenomenon in English is the case of the word 'watch' which originally referred to the analogue pointer.
The very fact that I have to modify "magazine" with the words "hard copy"--another retronym!--is indicative of the dilemma facing not only magazines but all of the print media today, as the Internet proves itself an increasingly irresistible medium for the delivery of news and entertainment.
May-June 2009: "virtual communities"
So landline has come into use as a retronym. The term retronym hasn't yet made it into many dictionaries either, but the third edition of The Oxford English Dictionary (still in progress, available by online subscription only) traces its first usage to 1980 and to public relations man Frank Mankiewicz.
To Paul Martin's examples of retronyms, permit me to add variations on the word mail.
Recycling--a term that did not take on its current meaning until the 1970s (29)--is akin to a retronym. Retronyms like land line and acoustic guitar are applied retrospectively and retroactively after some new development (here, cell phones and electric guitars) makes their invention necessary for clarity's sake.
Is recycling the new garbage?
These have mostly arisen as retronyms to distinguish their associated nouns from the unmodified form: e.g., prefabricated houses, as distinct from the kind built in situ.
Prewarned is prearmed

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